Allison Murphy didn't know she was an Illinois State Scholar until Mr. Matthews called her into his office and told her.

She hadn't been chasing it, hadn't been counting down or calculating her odds. She was just doing her work consistently, without a lot of drama about it,  and somewhere in that steady rhythm, the recognition found her.

"Not really," she says when asked if it had been a goal.

The way she approaches school, it almost couldn't have been any other way. Her advice to her younger self is characteristically grounded: "Just have good discipline and not really worry about it too much because once you start worrying, it just kind of spirals."

It's a philosophy that sounds simple and isn't, especially for a student carrying a schedule like hers — bio 2, advanced chemistry, physics, and trig. She is taking the hard stuff, by choice, and she loves it.

"I've always been a science person," she says. "Science and math." She pauses, then adds, "I love it. I love it so much."

Biology is where she's headed. Next fall, she plans to attend Loyola University Chicago, though she's still deciding exactly where a biology degree takes her: pre-med, veterinary science, or research. The doors are open, and she seems comfortable with that.

What she does know is that she wants to be in Chicago.

"I love all the different people," she says. "Anywhere you turn, there can be new stuff." She's lived in Monmouth her entire life, and there's something she's hungry for in the contrast. "Here, I've known these people my entire life. But in Chicago, these are brand new people. I can meet so many different people." Of all the cities she's visited, she says, it's her favorite.

She's quick to add that heading there doesn't mean leaving this place behind. "Monmouth will always be my home. My family's always going to be here and all the people I've grown up with." She just wants to scale up. "I kind of want to pack up and get away,  but Chicago isn't that far, so it's not like I'm 10,000 miles away."

Outside of class, Allison has been in student council, volunteering with class fundraisers and concessions, even without holding an office. She focused most of her energy on her coursework, and the results speak for themselves.

Her family has been central to all of it. She lives with her grandparents, and she doesn't minimize what that has meant. "They've always told me to reach for my goals, and I can do anything," she says. Her aunt on her mom's side has been a steady support, too. Her two older sisters, one studying psychology at college, and the other one working as a CNA at a nursing home, suggest a family that simply does things.

Her mom is still part of her life, she says, even if the relationship looks different than some. "She still inspires me, but just in completely different ways. Kind of inspiring me to do better."

When asked who else belongs in the room of people who've shaped her, though, Allison's answer takes a turn inward.

"My future is what inspires me the most," she says. "My future is so dependent on me. At the end of the day, it's me.  It's me who has to continue to fight to do what I love."

It's not defiance of the people around her. It's ownership. It’s a recognition that support, however real and however generous, doesn't get you out of bed in the morning. You do that yourself.

When asked how she hopes to be remembered, she doesn't reach for anything grand.

"I want to be remembered as somebody who helps people through their toughest times, or if they're struggling, or in their happiest moment. I want to be there for people."

It's a quiet aspiration,  but paired with the discipline and self-belief she's already shown, she has every reason to travel far.